Safe Havens
§ 2.3 A. Non-Deportable Dispositions in Criminal Cases
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This volume is limited to consideration of criminal cases, and the various dispositions that may result from a criminal prosecution. It does not cover possible outcomes of civil cases, or administrative cases, which may themselves result in a disposition that establishes a ground of deportation. This book does discuss the two grounds of deportation that are based on a court order[4] or administrative finding[5] in certain circumstances. The idea of “safe haven” on which this book is focused is to assist criminal and immigration counsel in identifying (when they already exist) and in creating (when they do not) an outcome in a criminal case that does not trigger deportation under any ground of deportation, an outcome that can be adopted with a greater or lesser degree of safety from deportation.
The idea of a non-deportable disposition in a criminal case contains two variations:
(1) A disposition in a criminal case that does not constitute a conviction under the statutory definition of “conviction” contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act,[6] see § 2.4, infra; and
(2) A conviction in a criminal case that does not fall within the boundaries of any of the conviction-based or conduct-based grounds of deportation, and does not meet the requirements of either of the two grounds of deportation that are triggered by a court or administrative finding. See § 2.5, infra.
[4] There is one civil court order-based ground of deportation: a court order finding a noncitizen has violated a certain portion of a domestic-violence protection order after a certain date. INA § 237(a)(2)(E)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(ii); Appendix A [7], infra.
[5] There is one ground of deportation based on a finding of an administrative tribunal: a noncitizen who is the subject of a “final order” for violation of INA § 274C, 8 U.S.C. § 1324c (document fraud). INA § 237(a)(3)(C)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(3)(C)(i); Appendix A [13], infra.
[6] INA § 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).
